Dedicated to all the volunteers I worked with this spring.
Great work everybody! Happy travels to you all XO
Showing posts with label Volunteering. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Volunteering. Show all posts
This is Pang Term, Thailand
frommynotebook;
"I look at the travel alarm clock and see that it is Thursday.
It is 3:58 p.m, the temperature is 30.5 degrees Celcius.
I am laying in my tent, under a large jungle hut made of clay and straw.
The roof is made from bamboo and large dried leaves.
A large red and black ant crawls across my screen door.
Beyond it I can see a mountain, and beyond that only a
forest of tropical greenery. Out the door of the tent,
and a few steps away is a path lined with well-spaced mudhuts.
The path leads down to the meditation platform overlooking the valley.
A few steps later are the squat toilets, then the outdoor
kitchen and dining area, and then the farm fields, which stretch down
towards the river. This is where I am organically farming.
After you cross this river you will find the small village of Pang Term.~
I look up. I see the leaf roof that towers above me- it has seen better days.
The clear blazing blue sky is peaking through,
but I am mostly sheltered in the shade.
I am listening to Silver Jet by The Tragically Hip.
It is pulsing from my laptop, which I have used today for the first time in
awhile, since there is little to no internet access here.
A laptop sometimes feels like an old friend here.
It can bring all sorts of comforting luxuries, like music,
or reminders of home but its deemed quite useless here most of the time
in the rural mountains of Thailand. Still I am grateful to have it now
so that I canlisten to Canadian music- its been so long!~
From time to time I hear thrashing in the forest,
and sometimes mysterious footstep sounds. I hear it now.
I try not to think about it too much, I will admit I am nervous
to think about what this creature could be. Ignorance is bliss.
I also hear an array of birds which I am beginning to recognize since
they have replaced my conventional wake-up alarm.
One of the birds sounds like it is constantly saying "Pa-pa, Pa-pa".~
I feel the warm wind shift , flowing over my tent
and causing my misquito net to ripple in the breeze.
I feel at home here.~
I smell only nature around me and the Thai short-bread
that I am eating. A new volunteer has brought some from
the nearest village, Samoeng.~
I taste sweetness and black sesame seeds! Yum..
Now some cool ginger water to wash it all down.
This is Pang Term, Thailand. "
"I look at the travel alarm clock and see that it is Thursday.
It is 3:58 p.m, the temperature is 30.5 degrees Celcius.
I am laying in my tent, under a large jungle hut made of clay and straw.
The roof is made from bamboo and large dried leaves.
A large red and black ant crawls across my screen door.
Beyond it I can see a mountain, and beyond that only a
forest of tropical greenery. Out the door of the tent,
and a few steps away is a path lined with well-spaced mudhuts.
The path leads down to the meditation platform overlooking the valley.
A few steps later are the squat toilets, then the outdoor
kitchen and dining area, and then the farm fields, which stretch down
towards the river. This is where I am organically farming.
After you cross this river you will find the small village of Pang Term.~
I look up. I see the leaf roof that towers above me- it has seen better days.
The clear blazing blue sky is peaking through,
but I am mostly sheltered in the shade.
I am listening to Silver Jet by The Tragically Hip.
It is pulsing from my laptop, which I have used today for the first time in
awhile, since there is little to no internet access here.
A laptop sometimes feels like an old friend here.
It can bring all sorts of comforting luxuries, like music,
or reminders of home but its deemed quite useless here most of the time
in the rural mountains of Thailand. Still I am grateful to have it now
so that I canlisten to Canadian music- its been so long!~
From time to time I hear thrashing in the forest,
and sometimes mysterious footstep sounds. I hear it now.
I try not to think about it too much, I will admit I am nervous
to think about what this creature could be. Ignorance is bliss.
I also hear an array of birds which I am beginning to recognize since
they have replaced my conventional wake-up alarm.
One of the birds sounds like it is constantly saying "Pa-pa, Pa-pa".~
I feel the warm wind shift , flowing over my tent
and causing my misquito net to ripple in the breeze.
I feel at home here.~
I smell only nature around me and the Thai short-bread
that I am eating. A new volunteer has brought some from
the nearest village, Samoeng.~
I taste sweetness and black sesame seeds! Yum..
Now some cool ginger water to wash it all down.
This is Pang Term, Thailand. "
A Fundraiser for the East Africa Drought
Other then the usual (but still awesome) get-togethers with friends, and a dinner/cake with family I wanted to do something REALLY different for my birthday this year. I first thought, "Okay, what do I love that makes me happy?" Immediately I thought-- MONTREAL!
So we started planning a birthday for me in Montreal-checking out fancy hotels online, planning to go to the TamTams (that awesome drum circle every Sunday, I will post pics of that soon!) visiting the beautiful Eastern Townships, like Sutton etc. As I was looking at all of my options online, I felt overwhelmed by the choices.What hotel to pick? What day to go to China town? Drive or take the bus? etc. It seemed that the privelage of choice was my enemy, not my friend!
Then, thankfully, a segment came onto CBC about the drought in the Horn of Africa. This is being described as the largest and more severe human crisis in the world. To learn more about the East Africa Drought or how you can help please visit:http://www.cbc.ca/eastafricarelief/
 |
| Keeping track of the donations we raised! |
Right then and there, I felt so wrong.
I thought,
"Here I am..not a care in the world, stressing out because I dont know which fancy hotel to choose, or how to spend my money next! On the other hand, these people are starving to death. From what Ive read and heard on the news, all of their fields are dried up, all the livestock has died of thirst or hunger, all of the crop seeds have been exchanged for water/ eaten as a last resort/ or just all used up. All in all, it seems almost hopeless.
I was especially saddened when I heard that it may actually wipe out an entire generation of children and that many young children are dying from the starvation, and also Cholera which has recently broken out in some of the refugee camps. Worst of all, some of the areas in most urgent need are militant-controlled and groups like the UN are having trouble reaching the refugee camps without endangering their own lives. After hearing about their world...that they have to live in everyday..Then, I really didnt give a care in the world about the hotel in Montreal, and all that stuff anymore.
I dont know why, but I thought to have a fundraiser party via my birthday party. After all, if I wanted something for my birthday, it was to send some help to these people in dire straits. Why not have a good time with everyone and have games still, but use them to raise money for this cause? One idea lead to the next and the next thing I know, I did it!
I raised 1265$ for The East Africa Drought! (with the help of all generous donors of course) I really feel like a drop in the water can do something. I urge everyone to DO SOMETHING.
 |
| My mom and I at my place the day of the Fundraiser. Before all the balloons got bought and popped! She won the Grand Prize on The Balloon Stomp too! |
I soon found out that having a fundraiser means raising money with some thing. I racked my brains for things that I have seen at other fundraisers, and just went with it! We decided to have a BBQ lunch/dinner patio/outdoor kinda party-the weather couldnt have been better so it all worked out.
Ray jammin for us, awesome as usual! 
Ways We Brought In Money;
- Door Raffle, Prize: A Homemade Blueberry Pie
- Balloon Stomp, Prizes: mini toys, shot glasses & "Drunken camels", dares! (hilarious!) a martini shaker set, raffle tickets, jello shots etc.
- Cassidys Putting Challenge-Prizes; ask Scott
- All you can eat lunch/dinner
- J-ello Shots!
 |
| Mom and her new 32 pc. martini shakin set!  I love this pic, Selena in her Samoli frock, my beautiful Djebe drum and Bri crackin up for who knows why! |
We had about 15 people turn out, which was only 1/4 of the people I invited, but I was still pleasantly surprised at how money we raised, and we definitely met our goal of raised 1000$! In the end I had a great time, and all the work was worth it. We were able to raise a total of 1265$, Roughly $1000 from donations that were matched by the government at that time, and a bit more than 200$ from the food, games and raffle!
The money was evenly divided between 3 Canadian Charities;
- The Canadian Red Cross
- The Huminitarian Coalition
- MSF ( Medicins Sans Frontieres)
********AND THANK YOU for all of the very generous donations. :)
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